Shop till you drop. (clothing retailing)

In 1993 women spent around twice as much as men on formal clothes, notching up a total of [pounds]5.2 billion, or [pounds]218.50 each. Men's underwear trails the clothing field at only [pounds]0.8 billion; around [pounds]34 for every adult male, compared with nearly [pounds]50 for every woman.

According to research our casual look is becoming more sporty, and around 14 million of us have store cards. MarketLine International is about to publish a report on clothing retailing; selected key findings follow.

Although growth in store cards has not been as fast as some might have liked (see Table V), this form of credit will be increasingly important. Currently in the UK about 35 per cent of UK adults have a credit card, about 16 per cent possess a store card, and less than 5 per cent possess more than two cards. Presently between 5-10 per cent of store transactions in the UK are by a store card.

This situation compares with that in the USA, where 70 per cent of adults have a …